Tensile engineering offers design flexibility in many ways that other building materials cannot. They are lightweight, strong and durable systems which offer benefits such as diffusion of light, acoustic dampening and the ability to span large areas uninterrupted. Their versatility from shade canopies to wall and ceiling panels gives these structures the ability to adapt across all industries.
Tensile Structures – The Basics
Tensile Structures are formed by tensioning fabric across or around an aluminium or steel framework. True tensile fabric structures are those in which every part of the fabric is in tension. The fundamental rule for stability is that, a tensioned fabric structure must curve equally in opposite directions; giving the canopy its 3-dimensional stability. Fabric can achieve far greater spans than conventional building materials, with minimal supporting structure.
Greater translucency and dynamic, organic shapes bring the feeling of outside, inside, as well as providing shade and protection from the weather.
Tensile structures generate what are known as ‘live loads’ instead of the static ‘dead loads’ of traditional roofing materials. Modern architectural fabrics offer increased stability and longevity often 20+ years.